


Poof

by ofnovember



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mostly Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 20:12:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2594954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofnovember/pseuds/ofnovember
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Balthazar wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing. He didn’t believe for a second that Hero had done what Claudio and Pedro claimed she had done, but being angry with Pedro was proving to be exhausting. And very lonely." </p><p>The lead up to and what went on after "one foot on sea one on shore one in the boiling hot lava".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poof

**Author's Note:**

> This webseries was the death of me and after I watched 'boiling hot lava' this was a thing that had to be written. I am American. I tried my best. I know they call it football but John called it soccer so I used both. I also made up that Pedro watches 'House of Cards', a show I don't even watch myself. Whatever. 
> 
> This whole thing is interwoven with videos starting from 'CONFESSION'. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this :) Thanks for reading!

They didn’t talk much for a while after Hero’s Birthday. 

Balthazar wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing. He didn’t believe for a second that Hero had done what Claudio and Pedro claimed she had done, but being angry with Pedro was proving to be exhausting. And very lonely. 

He still didn’t know how all of this had happened. Their group had gotten ripped apart in the period of a few minutes. 

He ended up spending most of his time with Ursula. She knew how he felt about Pedro. Of course she did. She probably had known it before Balthazar had known himself. She tried to reassure him that Pedro would come around eventually but he wasn’t sure he believed her. 

A month passed before Balthazar found himself alone and face to face with Pedro for the first time since the party. Balthazar had been working on a project for his 16th Century Literature class when Pedro fell heavily onto the bench across from him. 

Balthazar looked up at Pedro, who in turn was looking at the table. Balthazar waited for him to speak. 

“I... I fucked up.”

“Yeah. You did.”

“No just… Let me… John set it up. The whole thing. He…” Pedro let out a heavy breath and set his elbows on the table, burying his head in his hands. “I was wrong. About Hero. She never… And John... “ He stopped again and ran his hands through his hair, still not looking at Balthazar. “I don’t know where he is.”

Now that he thought about it, Balthazar couldn’t remember seeing John for while now. Even though he was still trying to process what Pedro said about Hero, Balthazar said, “he’ll come ‘round,” echoing Ursula's words to him.

“He hates me, Balthazar,” said Pedro, finally looking at him. He looked tired and worried and sad and just lost. “How could I not’ve seen that?”

Balthazar held his gaze. “He’ll come ‘round. You can’t hate someone that much ‘less you care about them.”

Pedro dropped his eyes back down to the table. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Pedro got up to leave. “I’ll let you get back to what you were doing then,” he said, taking a few steps away. 

“Pedro!” said Balthazar a little louder than he had intended. Pedro turned back to look at him. Balthazar opened his mouth again to speak but when no words came he clamped it back shut.

Pedro swallowed. He ran his hand through his hair again before he spoke. “I’m so sorry, Balthy.” With that, Pedro turned and walked away. 

Balthazar looked down at his work and decided to call it a day. There were more important things he needed to focus on. 

***

Balthazar closed out of his browser when John’s video came to an end. No wonder Pedro was so upset. 

He almost reached for his guitar but thought better of it. Instead, Balthazar grabbed his sneakers and his soccer ball and headed out the door to Pedro’s house. 

***

Balthazar didn’t say a word when Pedro opened the door, he just held up the ball like a peace offering. Pedro looked from the ball to Balthazar and back again before nodding and stepping out the door. 

The two walked in silence to a nearby park. It was mostly deserted, just a few kids playing on the play structure. They kicked the ball back and forth for a while before Balthazar attempted any conversation. 

“Ursula sent me the links.” 

Pedro didn’t respond and Balthazar didn’t really know where he was going with that so he moved on. 

“Are you going to the thing for Hero?”

Pedro kicked the ball back harder than he had been. “I’m not sure I’d be very welcome.”

Balthazar passed the ball back to Pedro. “Bea said they’re bringing a camera to record messages for Hero. Are you sure you want to pass that up?” If he knew Pedro he knew Pedro would want to apologize. 

“Are you going?” asked Pedro.

“Yeah. Going to bring my guitar. Thought I’d play a bit.”

When the sun fell beneath the horizon a half hour later the two found themselves back on Pedro’s front porch. Pedro gestured into the house. “Do you want to…?”

Balthazar shook his head. “Sorry. Mum wanted me home for dinner tonight. Not sure what the occasion is but...” He shrugged. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

“Yeah. And uh… thanks. For this,” replied Pedro, motioning vaguely.

“Yeah no problem.”

***

Balthazar ended up not seeing Pedro much the next day. Or the next. It wasn’t until the day after he recorded the song with Ben that he got to spend much time with Pedro again. 

“Is that a new song?”

Balthazar looked up from where he sat in the grass to see Pedro walking towards him. He stopped playing. “Yeah. I’m not quite done with it yet but I’m working on it.” 

Pedro stood a few feet away from him, awkwardly. “Well it sounds really good. Your music is always amazing.”

Balthazar shook his head slightly, smiling with his lips pressed together. Pedro complimenting his music wasn’t new, but it still always made him feel nice. “Thanks.” He looked back up at Pedro. “You can sit down if you like.”

Pedro took a seat a few feet away from him. Balthazar didn’t like the distance but he didn’t comment on it. Instead he started plucking at his guitar strings again. He glanced at Pedro every now and then. All he seemed to be doing was staring at the ground and playing with his hands and the grass in front of him. 

After several minutes Balthazar stopped playing again. "So have you made up your mind about Hero’s thing?” he asked.

Pedro tugged at the grass in front of him. “I don’t think Beatrice-”

Balthazar cut him off. “It’s not about Bea, Pedro. It’s about Hero.” He watched Pedro pull out a few more chunks of grass from the ground. “I think you and Claud should both go. Show Hero you’re sorry. I know you are.”

Finally Pedro nodded. “I’ll go.”

Balthazar leaned back and strummed his guitar a few times quickly. “Good.” 

The side of Pedro’s mouth twitched up for a moment and Balthazar considered that a small victory. He got back to working on his song. 

Pedro fell back against the grass and stared at the sky. “I saw the song you did with Ben,” he said after a while. 

“Yeah?”

“How much of it did you write?” asked Pedro, propping himself up on his elbows. 

Balthazar grinned. “Hardly any of the words actually. Just gave him some inspiration here and there. He got into it.” He strummed at his guitar a few times. “I’d like to think I’d have been more subtle with the lyrics, but I’m not sure that’s been the case.” Balthazar realized he could be letting on more than he wanted to but he decided not to worry about it too much.

If Pedro noticed, he didn’t let on that he had. He just laid back down against the grass. 

It was nice. Just existing in the same space as Pedro again. For a few minutes, Balthazar could pretend nothing had happened. 

Eventually Ursula wandered over and Pedro made his excuses to leave, breaking the illusion. Still, it was nice while it lasted. 

***

 

Three days after Hero’s return, Balthazar invited Pedro over to hear his new song. Pedro sat in Balthazar’s desk chair and Balthazar sat on the edge of his bed. When the song was finished Pedro took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. 

Finally, Pedro lifted his head, smiling, and said, “you realize you stole about half those lyrics from Mumford and Sons, right?” 

Balthazar raised his eyebrows. “They sing truth.”

Pedro nodded. “They do.” 

Balthazar stood up to return his guitar to its stand in the corner. When he turned back around he found Pedro staring at him. “What?”

Pedro blinked a few times. “Hmm? Oh. I was just wondering if you were going to let Ursula record that.”

Balthazar tilted his head to the side. “You think I should?”

Pedro smiled. “Definitely.”

***

Ursula came over a few days later to record “Sigh Not So.” She only used one camera this time, which she said would have a greater impact because it would cause the audience to focus on the song’s lyrics. She also brought some fairy lights she strung up in the background because “they look fantastic in black and white.”

Pedro was there. It would have felt wrong if he hadn’t been; he’d been there for the recordings of the other songs. 

Ursula brought her computer. Because it was only one shot it didn’t take too long to edit.

While they waited for the final video to render, the three exchanged small talk about school and the football team and anything but Hero or John. Ursula took every opportunity to leave Pedro and Balthazar alone in the room, volunteering to get snacks and glasses of water; Balthazar wasn’t sure if he appreciated that or not. Pedro still wasn’t in all that of a talkative mood. Part of him wanted to push Pedro into talking but the other wanted to give him space. Still, Pedro laughed at Balthazar’s jokes and he was smiling more.

Pedro was allowed to write the video description, as he had done so in the other two videos, but it took him longer than usual this time. He seemed to keep changing his mind. Balthazar was surprised by what he ended up writing. Just two sentences: “Another song by Balthazar. Genuine as always. Pedro” 

After Pedro had left, giving some non-descriptive excuse, Balthazar found himself sitting on the couch next to Ursula. 

“I thought you two were okay,” she said. 

Balthazar shook his head. “I told him we are. And sometimes it feels like we are. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in his head. I know he still feels guilty and I know he’s worried about John but...” he trailed off. 

“I’m thinking of having a picnic,” Ursula announced. “Not right now. I still think things need to calm down some.”

“That sounds nice. Let me know when,” replied Balthazar. “We haven’t all hung out together in a while. And I know why, it’s just… I dunno.”

Ursula smiled sadly. “I know. I’ve got to go, but I’ll let you know when it’s going to be, yeah?”

“Yeah. Thanks Ursula. And thanks for filming that. It was fun.”

“No problem.”

***

“I’ve got a gig coming up,” said Balthazar to Pedro. They were sitting in Pedro’s living room the night before the Ursula’s picnic. Pedro was on his back on the couch and Balthazar was sitting in what had become his armchair in the time he’d known Pedro. His guitar was in his lap.

Pedro’s eyebrows rose and he sat up. “What? When were you going to tell me about this?” 

Balthazar smiled. “Hey, you’re the first one to know. I just got it and it’s on November first.” 

Pedro grinned back. “That’s awesome, Balthy.”

“You’re coming, right?”

Pedro almost looked offended by the question. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it. You know that.”

Balthazar’s smile grew and he looked down in attempt to hide it a bit. 

Time passed and Balthazar knew he really should be getting back home but he didn’t want to. Pedro seemed reluctant to see him leave as well. Somewhere along the line Balthazar mentioned that he hadn’t actually seen House of Cards and Pedro decided they had to watch the first episode. They sat side by side on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them. One episode turned into five and by the end of the fifth episode, they both had fallen asleep.

***

The next morning Balthazar blinked his eyes open slowly. He was lying on something very warm. He sat up slightly to find that he had fallen asleep leaning on Pedro’s shoulder. Pedro, who was now staring down at him with a small smile on his face. 

Balthazar sat up the rest of the way, rubbing a hand to his eye. “Sorry about that,” he said yawning. 

“It’s fine,” Pedro replied quickly, still watching Balthazar. “Your hair’s all messed up,” he continued, bringing a hand up to run it through Balthazar’s hair. 

Balthazar let out a small laugh. “Yours isn’t much better, mate,” he said with a quick glance at Pedro. The way Pedro was looking at him was making him feel funny. 

“What are you talking about? My hair’s always perfect,” Pedro retorted, leaning back. 

Grinning, Balthazar said, “Nah, you should see yourself.” He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. “I think I’m going to head home to change before the picnic, but would you mind giving me a ride over there?”

Pedro shook his head. “Not at all. I’ll be over there at 10:30?”

Balthazar stood and grabbed his bag and his guitar. “Alright. Sounds good.” He yawned again and Pedro laughed and the sound made Balthazar so happy he was practically beaming as he ducked out of the house. 

***

The entire drive to the picnic, Balthazar and Pedro sang loudly to a Fife and the Drums album. Balthazar was glad he wasn’t driving because it meant he got to watch Pedro singing and looking absolutely carefree. 

It was incredibly windy throughout the entire first part of the picnic but everyone remained in high spirits. Balthazar had been afraid it would be incredibly awkward but to his pleasant surprise it… really wasn’t. Sure it had its moments, and Bea still wouldn’t look at Pedro or Claudio, but everyone else seemed to be getting on just fine. 

After John showed up it was like new life had been brought to the group. Pedro looked so happy to see his brother again and what was more, John seemed happy as well. 

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly and Balthazar was sad when it was over. He knew not everything had been fixed, it would take a while for Bea to forgive Claud and Pedro, and it would take even longer for Pedro to forgive himself, but they were getting there. And that was what’s important. 

***

Balthazar found himself at the Donaldson’s a lot over the next few days. Most of the time Pedro would just be lying in his couch listening to Balthazar play, but Balthazar didn’t mind. He’d be working on his music anyway if he’d stayed home and at the Donaldson’s the company was always nice. Even John was nice to have around. 

Eventually Pedro and Balthazar got roped into watching Blackadder after John discovered that neither of them had seen it. He also commandeered Balthazar’s armchair forcing Balthazar and Pedro to share the couch. Not that Balthazar minded. 

***

One day during a break in the action as John switched out the DVD’s, Pedro brought up the song Balthazar did with Bea. 

“So how long ago did you do that song with Beatrice?” he asked. He sat up from where he had been lying on the couch facing Balthazar, knees bent with his socked feet almost tucked under one of Balthazar’s legs. Balthazar was sitting crosslegged at the other end of the couch.

Balthazar shrugged. “I dunno. A few days after Ben asked me to help him with his. I honestly thought they both knew.”

Pedro tightly smiled and leaned back to look at the ceiling. “You’re the one everyone should be calling an All Around Great Guy,” he said.

Balthazar’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I mean it. You’re… honest and kind and people can trust you and you do things like write songs about people who don’t deserve it and you help people write songs for people who do deserve it and…” Pedro looked back at him, “you’re just a fantastic person, Balthy.”

Balthazar blushed and looked down at his hands because he really couldn’t look at Pedro when Pedro was staring at him like that. 

John cleared his throat, “Umm, I’m just going to start the next episode now.”

Balthazar felt like he was in Year 9 all over again. 

***

Ben had never asked Balthazar for his approval of a video before this but after everything that had been going on it didn’t seem that out of character. Balthazar clicked the link to the currently private video and leaned back to watch it. At a minute and a half in he realized why Ben wanted him to review it.

“I heard from Ursula that actually, Balthazar really likes Pedro.”

“No no, we want to make something up that isn’t real though, you know?”

Balthazar paused the video and stared at the screen. On one hand he wanted to tell Ben that, no, he did not want that in the video. But on the other hand…

There was a good chance Pedro had already guessed. Ben didn’t seem to surprised when Bea brought it up and he was pretty sure John had figured it out as well. There was a chance that this video wouldn’t be saying anything people didn’t already know. Balthazar wasn’t ashamed or anything. What ever Pedro said otherwise, Pedro was a great guy. 

Balthazar pulled out his phone and sent Ben a text. ‘It’s fine. You can post it.’

***

The video went live and things continued as normal for Balthazar. Well, almost normal. 

Pedro was staring at him a lot more. Balthazar was desperately trying to figure out what the stares meant but it was difficult as Pedro would look away almost immediately after being caught. The stares didn’t seem malicious or even suspicious. If anything they sometimes reminded Balthazar of the morning of the picnic. 

There was also one specific moment when he left to go get water from the Donaldson’s kitchen and when he came back John and Pedro seemed to be in the middle of a quiet argument.

“How do you know this isn’t just something new that he’ll move on from in a few weeks?” Pedro asked quietly but seriously.

“Pedro, I noticed it on my first day at Messina. It’s not new.” 

Balthazar stood awkwardly in the doorway. “Umm, everything alright?”

Pedro’s eyes snapped to him with an almost panicked expression on his face. John, however, didn’t look concerned. “Everything’s fine. Pedro’s just being an idiot.” At this Pedro glared back at John.

Balthazar gave a little shrug. “It happens to the best of us.” John smiled a bit at that and Balthazar continued. “But really I can leave if you two need to-”

“No!” John and Pedro both protested to his great surprise.

Pedro looked from Balthazar to John and back again. “No. Stay. We’re fine.”

Balthazar looked over at John who added, “We’re fine. And we still have to finish this episode.” he gestured to the paused face of Rowan Atkinson. 

“Alright then…” said Balthazar slowly before moving to reclaim his spot on the couch. He set his water down on the side table an John started the DVD up again. 

***

The day after the dinner party between the Dukes and the Donaldsons, Balthazar opened his front door to find both Pedro and John standing on his front porch. “Erm, hi.”

“We needed to get out of the house,” said Pedro, offering up an explanation. “Is it alright if we watch more Blackadder over here today?” 

John sat on the floor with his back to an armchair and Pedro and Balthazar took places on the couch. Except it was more of a loveseat than a couch. 

At the Donaldson’s, Pedro would have enough room to lay down completely on the couch with his head on the armrest and his legs bent up slightly so his toes would end up right near Balthazar’s legs. Here, there was no such room. Instead, Pedro opted to throw his legs over the opposite armrest, effectively trapping Balthazar. 

“Make yourself at home,” said Balthazar ironically. He didn’t really know what to do with his arms but eventually he settled on draping his left arm over the back of the couch and letting his right rest on Pedro’s legs. It wasn’t the most comfortable position but he also didn’t want Pedro to move. 

Halfway through the second episode, Pedro reached up and pulled Balthazar’s hand down from the back of the couch. Balthazar looked over at him. 

Pedro wasn’t looking at him. Balthazar watched as Pedro’s fingers brushed over his palm and the calluses on his fingers. 

Eventually Balthazar looked back at the television screen. He didn’t pull his hand away. 

***

The next day Balthazar invited Pedro to the park with him just to hang out. Pedro sat with his back against the tree with his legs stretched out in front of him. Balthazar rested his head on Pedro’s thighs as he absently picked at the strings of his guitar. They would have to talk about this at some point, but neither of them wanted to breach the subject yet. 

“You never told me how the dinner party went,” said Balthazar.

Pedro ran a hand through Balthazar’s hair. “It was alright. We talked. John and I apologized.” He sighed. “I just don’t feel like it’s enough.”

“Hero understands. Anyone who knows you can see how awful you feel about the whole thing. Even Bea.” When Pedro didn’t answer, Balthazar asked “Did Hero say she forgives you?” because he couldn't imagine her not. 

“Yes, but-”

“Than that’s all that matters. Don’t worry about Beatrice. You know how she is. You need to move on.”

Pedro shook his head. “I’m not sure if I can just yet.”

“Try.” Balthazar leaned his head to the side so he could see all of Pedro’s face. “Do I need to start singing Mumford and Sons at you? Because I will.”

Pedro tried and failed to keep himself from smiling. “You are such a dork.”

“Fife and the Drums?”

“Even you couldn’t do Fife and the Drums with a guitar.”

“God forbid I sing Coldplay, but you may leave me with no other choice.” Balthazar grinned and raised his eyebrows a few times. 

Pedro huffed. “I like Coldplay.”

“Yes, for reasons I still have yet to figure out.”

Pedro smiled and closed his eyes. He rested his head on the tree behind him. He took a deep breath. “Balthy, could you just… play?”

Balthazar settled back down against Pedro. “Any requests?”

“No, just… play.”

So he did.

***

Balthazar felt bad for being late to what Pedro had called the ‘Apology Party’, but it couldn’t be helped.

Ursula was the one to let him in. “Oh, thank god you’re here. Pedro’s been acting like a complete downer. He’s gone and disappeared off somewhere. Do you think you can talk him ‘round?”

He took a minute saying hello to everyone before going off in search of Pedro. When he got to Hero’s door he could swear he heard Ben’s voice coming from inside. 

“Balthazar!” said Ben as he opened the door. 

Balthazar was pleased to see Pedro was in the room too. When Pedro finally turned around he looked surprised to see him, even though Ben had just greeted him by name. 

Pedro stood up and Balthazar apologized for being late. “Ursula let me in. Said you’d disappeared off somewhere. Thought I’d come see if you’re okay.”

Ben had Balthazar take a seat and Balthazar noticed the camera. He wondered what they’d been talking about and asked the question aloud. 

After Pedro finally admitted to the subject matter, he and Balthazar both threw some hypothetical names around, never stating what they were actually thinking. Ben wasn’t dumb, and Balthazar knew he caught on to what was going on pretty quickly. 

John came in and Ben welcomed him to what he called ‘Team Love Gods Part Two.’ Pedro stopped John from saying anything but Ben did not let that slide. 

Which was how Pedro and Balthazar found themselves standing at the end of the empty hallway awkwardly. Bea suddenly wanting to talk to Pedro didn’t help, but Ursula had been quick to pull her away. 

“Erm, so why was Ben trying to set you up with a girlfriend?” asked Balthazar to break the silence.

Pedro rolled his eyes. “Something about people making all your sadness go ‘poof’ or something like that.”

“Yeah, that sounds like something Ben would say.”

Pedro ran his hand through his hair and Balthazar watched him, tilting his head to the side.

Pedro took a deep breath. “So…”

“So.” 

“I… like you. A lot,” said Pedro, finally looking Balthazar in the face. 

Balthazar grinned. “That’s nice. I like you quite a lot as well.” 

Pedro let out a small laugh. He smiled and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before meeting Balthazar's eyes again. 

He brought a hand up to Balthazar’s neck and brought their foreheads together. Balthazar took Pedro’s other hand in his. They stood that way for a few moments before Pedro laughed again. 

Balthazar leaned back a little. “What?”

Pedro shook his head, still grinning. “Nothing.”

“Pedro.”

Pedro closed his eyes. “I was just thinking.”

“About what? Tell me,” prompted Balthazar, nudging Pedro with their entwined hands. 

Pedro opened his eyes to look at Balthazar and squeezed his hand. “I was thinking it fits.”

It took Balthazar a moment to realize what Pedro was referring to but when he did he smiled and laughed. Pedro began to laugh as well and he brought their foreheads together again. 

After a minute Balthazar told Pedro, “that was probably the cheesiest thing you could have said at that moment.”

“Hey, you wrote it.”

“Yeah. I suppose you got me there.”

“Does that mean you want to do this then?” asked Pedro, suddenly looking serious again.

Balthazar squeezed Pedro’s hand. “It’s a definite yes from me.”

Pedro beamed. “Good. Good. Me too.”

“POOF!” Pedro and Balthazar looked up to see John and Ben emerging from Hero’s room. 

“Shut it, Ben!” replied Pedro.

Ben and John smiled and they turned to head around the corner to return to the party.

“We should probably head back in there as well,” said Balthazar, watching the two disappear.

“Do we have to?” asked Pedro, whining slightly. 

Balthazar looked back at him. “I think so, yeah. Bea wanted to talk to you and I wanted a piece of that cake before Ben eats all of it.”

Pedro sighed. “Alright.”

Balthazar smiled. After a moment’s hesitation he pressed a quick kiss to Pedro’s mouth. “Let’s get back then.”

Pedro grinned stupidly at Balthazar as he let his hand drop from Balthazar’s neck. 

“Poof.”

**Author's Note:**

> Balthazar should be required to wear a flower-crown 24/7.


End file.
